Havant Friends of the Earth

Markwells Wood, Forestside near Rowlands Castle

Published in the Portsmouth News on the 22nd September 2016

Story by Danny Randon

GREEN campaigners have criticised an application to drill for oil in the South Downs National Park.

United Kingdom Oil and Gas Investments PLC (UKOG) has applied to the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) for 20 years of oil extraction at Markwells Wood, Forestside near Rowlands Castle.

Although UKOG state the well will not be fracked it has asked for permission to drill horizontal wells, stimulation of the wells by acidisation, and to drill a well to reinject waste water. Friends of the Earth is concerned that horizontal wells require extraction techniques that can have risks for the environment due to the processes, chemicals and pressure used.

Brenda Pollack, Friends of the Earth’s south east regional campaigner, believes that national parks should not be subject to such an extensive period of drilling.

She said: ‘We believe that oil drilling should simply not be allowed in one of our most precious landscapes.

‘The processes they want to carry out have risks for our environment. We have serious concerns about the techniques needed to get the oil out of horizontal wells and reinjecting the waste water back underground is worrying.

‘Our national parks should be protected for people to enjoy.’

Continue reading Environmentalists’ outrage at proposal for South Downs oil drill